The online health service arm of Chinese internet company Alibaba has initiated a campaign allowing people to experience its door-to-door service of reclaiming unwanted and expired medications.

During its campaign from March 13 to March 31, customers in 28 major Chinese cities can enjoy the free service operated by AliHealth, which dispatches couriers to collect expired medications, after users scan the medicine's pill bottle through Alibaba's Taobao and Alipay apps on their cell phones.

Expired medications can be less effective or risky due to changes in chemical composition or a decrease in strength, leading to failures to treat infections, which may cause more serious illnesses or antibiotic resistance. Certain expired medications are at the risk of bacterial growth.

China listed expired medications on the directories of hazardous wastes in 2016. According to AliHealth, the reclaimed medications are subject to centralized bio-safety disposal using gasification incineration.

AliHealth has partnered with 12 Chinese pharmaceutical firms to treat unwanted medications.

It has also teamed up with Guangzhou Pharmaceutics Holdings to operate the service. The pharmaceutical firm boasts an offline network of expired medicine reclaiming services in over 200 Chinese cities.